After a prospective buyer bailed out on purchasing the former hospital in June, the property remains a burden for the borough.
Currently, the building sits empty. It had been eating up nearly $100,000 a year to cover heat, insurance and maintenance. On Sept. 2, the borough’s Economic Development Board brainstormed some potential options for the building’s future.
After a long discussion, the board established two priorities for the property: job creation and economic development. Board Chair Bob Dalrymple acknowledged that spinning the ailing property into a financial driver will be much more difficult in reality.
“Nothing jumps out as a clear path forward on this,” Dalrymple said. He also noted that all previous potential buyers had wanted to demolish the building and build residences in its place.
And while nothing was finalized at the Sept. 2 meeting, the board established a series of general next steps.
In the short term, the borough is going to market the property as much as possible, utilizing its online reach to hopefully attract buyers. If that is unsuccessful, the borough will work with commercial realtors to look for a buyer. Previously, Wrangell worked with Anchor Properties — a local realtor. This time around it hopes a national realtor would be able to reach a wider audience.
The very worst-case scenario — said Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director — is that the borough raises a 12-foot fence and let nature run its course on the property. However, this is the last resort.
Borough officials hope they can find a buyer who might turn the property into residences, a residential facility or something else that could help fuel Wrangell’s economy.
To reduce costs of the property in the short term, Borough Manager Mason Villarma said he plans on “mothballing” the property until it sells. Last year, the borough cut the hospital’s insurance coverage down to $2 million. By limiting next year’s expenditures to a minimum, Villarma expects to hold annual upkeep costs to $15,000 to $20,000.
Some members suggested the building be used to host a proposed Southeast Alaska vocational education program the borough recently pitched to U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola for possible federal funding. Doing so would require a partnership with Alaska Vocational Technical Center, a state school based in Seward. According to Thomas, the voc ed school does not have the bandwidth for this type of program right now, thus eliminating that option.
The borough also had explored using the hospital building as a temporary space for the police and fire departments if the Public Safety Building undergoes repairs in the coming years. However, Thomas said, remodeling costs and incompatible timelines make that idea unworkable.
She said the borough — which does not want to own and maintain the building forever — would like to sell the property as soon as possible but knows it may take time.
Physically, the structural integrity of the building is sound, according to Thomas. But it has its fair share of issues inside. For starters, she emphasized that its unique layout as a hospital makes it difficult to market.
The building has been vacant since SEARHC moved out and opened its new Wrangell Medical Center in 2021.
A 2018 report also identified the building contained asbestos. While most of it is easily abatable, board member Brian Ashton worries that asbestos-containing pieces of the roof may require further work. Ashton, a local inventor, recommended the borough study samples from certain sections of the roof before further marketing the building.
In addition to asbestos, Mayor Patty Gilbert admitted the decades-old old building — if it is to be fully functional again — would need new plumbing and electric systems, a new generator, new fire suppression system and new heating system.
While the board did not set a minimum price for the property, it recommended listing its 2022 appraised value of $830,000, while inviting any potential buyers to make an offer.
The assembly last year dropped the asking price to $470,000, and then later accepted an offer of $200,000 from a Georgia-based real estate developer — who backed out of the deal in June.
“It’s a great space,” board member John DeRuyter said. “There’s a ton of things that can be done with that building. It can be an economic driver on a number of levels.”
Reader Comments(0)